Unapeeling
by anngraham
Summary: On the night when Dixie Carter returns, EC3 ends up visiting an old friend.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and am not making any profit from these. All ideas represented are mine, as are any spelling or grammar mistakes. This is placed after EC3 wins the belt for the first time and is in charge of Impact for the night. There is a YouTube video of the potato incident this refers too.

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It was towards the end of the night, after his beloved Aunt D had stabbed him in the back that Ethan heard about the incident with Spud. No longer in the mood to celebrate after his Aunt's hypocritical change in attitude he decided it would be more fun to check in on his ex-friend and find out exactly what had happened. Barging into the trainer's room he was brought up short by the absolute pathetic image Spud presented, the smaller man was stretched out on the couch missing both his shirt and jacket, a large bandage wrapped around his right hand. Spud looked completely exhausted in a way that plucked at the annoyingly persistent threads of his old affection for the man.

"Peeling potatoes too hard of a job Spud," not letting any of his thoughts show Ethan smirked as Spud looked over at him with a long suffering expression before throwing his arm over his face.

"I don't want to talk to you right now Ethan," voice muffled Spud had to quickly draw his legs up as Ethan sat on the couch besides him. Peeking at the other man's expression he knew without a doubt Ethan wasn't going to leave him alone until he was good and ready.

"Too bad," pulling Spud's legs over his lap Ethan tugged on the smaller man's injured arm until he was forced to sit up. Ignoring Spud's grumbled protest and attempts to pull free he examined his injured hand critically, "what on earth did you do Spud?"

The painkiller he'd taken earlier made it difficult to call up his usual anger at Ethan when all he wanted to do was sleep and so for once he didn't even bother. Sighing wearily Spud shifted sideways just enough to lean against the bigger man, taking comfort from the warm familiar scent of his expensive cologne. "Some douchebag made me peel a bunch of potatoes," smiling faintly at Ethan's unimpressed stare he continued with a shrug, "and I might have been so angry that I accidently sliced my hand open."

"Hmm," running his fingers gently over the bandage Ethan didn't feel the need to display his usual scorn without Tyrus around, it also didn't hurt that Spud was a warm and relaxed weight against him. Instead he was quite content to enjoy this quiet moment away from all the stressors in his life. "Perhaps that _was_ a trifle petty of me," admitting lowly he absently stroked across the delicate skin on Spud's wrist. "Stitches?"

"Yeah, an impressive ten stitches," trying to keep his eyes open Spud fought to maintain a guard against his natural affection for the other man. Between his exhaustion and Ethan's soothing touch it was losing battle.

"Christ Spud, you must have really cut deep," leaning forward a fraction Ethan pulled the ottoman closer, putting his feet up and tugging so Spud was sprawled out against his chest. By now he recognized Spud's sleepy, relaxed mood as the main indicator he'd taken some serious painkillers.

Shrugging Spud willingly curled into the bigger man, head resting on Ethan's surprisingly comfy shoulder. If Ethan wanted to pretend they usually weren't, at best at odds and at worst enemies, then he was content to play along. "Yeah well, I bloody well hate when Tyrus manhandles me." Tucking his face against Ethan's neck he could feel the other man laughing at him.

Snorting Ethan rested his head against the back of the couch, eyes closing in weariness. Spud was pleasantly warm pressed against his side and he lazily traced a path down the smaller man's back, lightly massaging the firm muscles until Spud was a completely melted mess, plastered trustingly against him.

"I heard about what happened between you and your Aunt," lulled half asleep by Ethan's caresses Spud made a sound in protest when the other man stopped that he knew he'd be embarrassed over later.

"What about it?" Ethan could feel his irritation returning and it was with an effort of will that he resumed his slow petting strokes and forced himself to relax. He had to admit he was curious to hear what Spud would say about the situation.

Wiggling into a more comfortable position Spud curled his injured arm around Ethan's stomach, "if I was still your best friend I'd tell you that you don't need her support or approval to be a great Champion, that you already are."

Smiling, grateful no one could see his no doubt indulgent expression Ethan nuzzled into Spud's shining blond hair, breathing in the crisp apple scent of his shampoo, "thank you, tiger." Tightening his grip he just held on as Spud finally fell asleep in his arms, he'd have to be gone before the smaller man awoke and was no longer influenced by the painkillers in his system, but for right now he wanted to ignore both their pasts and probable futures and just enjoy this moment of rare peace.

Warm and comfortable Spud woke up slowly, cuddled into a blanket that hadn't been there before, pain from his hand only a distant echo. It took several moments before he remembered how he'd fallen asleep, cuddled into Ethan Carter the Third, his ex-best friend, current tormentor and man he was still very in love with. Sighing and scrubbing a hand over his face he couldn't stop the flood of happiness at the memory of how gently Ethan had held him, of how the other man seemed to find comfort in his company. Perhaps not everything was lost between them yet. For the first time in months Spud dared to hope for a future where Ethan was once again his friend.


End file.
